Scottish Government
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Offenders payback to communities
More social work orders than ever before contain an element of unpaid work, according to figures released yesterday.
Unpaid work
totalling almost 1.8 million hours was imposed on offenders in Scotland as
punishment for their offences last year.
Communities the length and breadth of Scotland are directly benefiting from the
work which includes the construction of cycle paths; the removal of graffiti;
refurbishing community centres, churches and sports facilities; and snow
clearing and gritting during periods of bad weather.
Thereport confirmed that:
- Of the 19,400 social work orders commenced in 2012-13, 79 per cent contained an element of unpaid work. The total number of unpaid hours - 1,794,854 - signifies a three per cent increase on 2011-12.
- Community payback orders accounted for 15,900 of the social work orders, with 80 per cent including an element of unpaid work.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: “Recorded crime in Scotland is now at its lowest level for 39 years and reconviction rates are at their lowest levels for 14 years, supported by the work of more than 1,000 extra police officers in our communities.
“The figures represent the second full year of use for the Community Payback Order and I welcome the continued hard work from local authorities to consistently embed and deliver this sentence.
“The evidence shows that short prison sentences do not work to rehabilitate offenders or to reduce the risk of reoffending. Our main social work order, the Community Payback Order, makes offenders payback to the community and address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour. Through Phase 2 of our Reducing Reoffending Programme we are working to secure further reductions in reoffending.”
Social work orders include community payback, community service, probation, supervised attendance and drug treatment and testing orders.
The community payback order replaced provisions for community service orders, probation orders and supervised attendance orders for offences committed on or after 1 February 2011.
